Dobson: Poverty exercise brings out real-life scenarios

The young man seemed rushed as he walked up behind me in the Walgreen’s checkout line. I asked him if I’d mistakenly taken his place in line. He said, no, everything was fine. But then he asked if he could go ahead, as he had to rush to catch the next bus.

He motioned to the clerk, who picked out two mini-cigars for him and reminded him that he really only needed one. You know, ever the “be well” folks. The young man agreed, but speaking as if he’s going through stressful times, indicated he needed one, right now.

Noticing he was wearing a work shirt from a fast-food restaurant, she inquired, “The job?”

“No,” he said. “Yes, the job is hell, too, but there’s so much else going out here.” Suddenly, he sounded much older than what I had imagined based on his youthful appearance.

He paid for the cigars, said goodbye to both of us, and left. I don’t know what he was facing, but I wished him well. He was trying to keep a job. He was dependent on public transportation. Who knows what else he was facing?

He had no idea that I’d just come from an exercise at the Senior Center sponsored by the Tallahassee/Leon County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. It was billed as a community action poverty simulation. The goal: to make everyone more aware of poverty, particularly among women heads of households, but everyone else involved.

Instead of the roam-the-room approach, I “joined” a family made up of a grandfather (played by former Leon County Commissioner Akin Akinyemi), who is diabetic, has mobility problems and gets by on a disability check. The grandmother (played by Leon County Volunteer Services director Jeri Bush), has a high-school diploma and works full-time as a cashier. One granddaughter, 9, helps her grandfather in the community. A grandson, 7, attends grade school, diagnosed with ADHD and is a “handful” for the grandparents.

For the next chaotic hour or so, I followed Bush around as she joined others in our “city” who struggled to make ends meet. There were issues with paying the second mortgage. I watched as she struggled to determine how much food was needed to keep the children from hunger and what items could be collected to pawn, if necessary. She was docked a day because she didn’t show up to work on time because of family duties and was told to make sure to be on time next week or she’d be fired.

“You go and hock a couple of things because I’m short on the mortgage,” “Grandma” tells “grandson.” A microwave and furniture pieces are sold for $5 each.

Next week came the news that “you are delinquent” on your utility bill, so “Grandma” uses $500 from her husband’s disability check to make payments.

At some point, I realize that Akinyemi is no longer at our table. He apparently had a real-life appointment and had to leave. I thought his absence was telling in that “Grandma” now was the sole decison maker at our table.

As the role-playing ended, R. Jai Gillum, a project director for the United Way, said for many people, “This is real life. It’s not a game.”

Women make up 52 percent of Leon County’s population, where the poverty rate is 23 percent, compared to 16 percent, according to the commission. That means making tough decisions. For instance, the “doctor’s office” didn’t get anywhere near the traffic as did the pawn shop and jobs line.

The positives: Some people landed jobs and others were able to snag benefits that they didn’t know about.

The message behind Wednesday night’s exercise?

•Help increase economic opportunities locally for women

•Help improve transportation options for women needing to get to jobs or health care

•Donate to the CHSP, Community Health Services Partnership (city of Tallahassee, Leon County and United Way) at www.chspportal.org

Before leaving, I spent a stopped to chat with the two “grandchildren” at the table.

Austin Ludwig, 20, is a junior at Florida State, with a triple major in management information systems, political science and business management.

What did he learn?

“Just how limited people are, not just by income but by time,” he said. “I think people don’t understand poverty is not just a lack of money, but a lack of options.”

His girlfriend, Lizbeth Correa, a 21-year-old junior also a triple major in management information systems, international affairs and biology, said was struck by the grandma, “not having enough money or time to make ends meet.“

“It opened your eyes to see what it is like for single mothers,” she said.

I hope that both of them are successful. I think one day they’ll both give back.

You can reach associate editor Byron Dobson at 850-599-2258 or at bdobson@tallahassee.com, or friend him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter at @byrondobson.